Author: Opinion

Three significant news items went on the global wire on 25^th February 2021 as follows;

1. Liquid Telecom, a member of the Econet Group that has laid more than 70,000km of fiber optic cable across Africa[1], raised $840M financing package (US$620M bond and a US$220M equivalent term loan in Rand). This was Liquid Telecom’s second bond issue and it was 5.5 times oversubscribed with JP Morgan Chase & Co, Standard Chartered Plc and Standard Bank Group Ltd as joint global bookrunners[2].
2. Convergence Partners, a leading Pan African Private Equity fund[3] entered into an agreement with Nasdaq listed Inseego (INSG) to acquire 100% of their subsidiary Ctrack’s operations in Africa and the Middle East[4].
3. Ecobank Nigeria, the largest country operations of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), issued a London listed $300M bond that was 3 times oversubscribed[5] and drew significant international

In the developed world corporates have big IT budgets so software is built, bought, integrated into existing systems because skilled developers and software packages tailored to meet the needs of businesses are abundant as corporate spend on IT.  

Throughout East Africa there are incredible inefficiencies in the SME business section all the way up to large corporates who struggle with limited budgets and limited skilled people to develop IT solutions and no-code platforms and tools mitigate these challenges by being both, affordable and easy for non-technical people to learn and use.…

Concerns about the pandemic especially with new fast spreading mutations, heightened political activity and uncertainty around the shape of business and economic recovery continues weighing heavily on risk asset pricing in the local market.

The distribution of vaccines is off to a slow start especially in the developed countries while locally, news flow indicate vaccines will be available later this month than as previously indicated.…

Debt service is putting tremendous pressure on East African governments because of limited foreign exchange earnings; therefore the Covid-19 vaccination program for East Africa will give investors confidence in most sectors especially agriculture and tourism which are major foreign exchange earners for the region.

The foreign exchange gains will lead to a positive trickle-down effect to the different businesses and general population.…

English sea-faring merchants would pay banks to cover them in case of a shipwreck and if the ship returned safe from its journey the bank would keep the premiums.
A premium so paid covers the cost of insuring the individual and provides assurance to the insured that in the event of a loss he/she will be covered.…

Across the Global South, agriculture is essential to livelihoods for the majority of women at the base of the pyramid (BOP). Modernising agribusiness value chains in climate-smart ways will be a key element in building emerging economies, combating food and income insecurity, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. This modernisation must take a gender-progressive approach, which requires a shift in the investment landscape to better integrate gender, from capitalising women-led companies to ensuring women farmers are empowered across the value chain. Not only are such approaches vital to SDG 5 (Gender Equality), they are directly relevant to climate action and building sustainable economies.

The impact of climate change on agricultural production has been well-documented, from the shifts in average temperatures and rainfall patterns to ozone and mineral concentrations in the atmosphere and soil – but the relationship goes both ways. Agriculture is a significant driver of climate change, with …

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic gripped the world with shock and overwhelmed the health care systems of most nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel human coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China on December 8, 2019, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) on January 30, 2020, with over seven million cases globally as of June 7, 20201. 

In July 2020, over 663,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases were recorded in Africa with more than 343,000 recoveries and 14,000 deaths. 324,211 cases were recorded in South Africa with 4,699 deaths, followed by 34,854 confirmed cases in Nigeria and 769 deaths, 26,125 confirmed cases and 139 deaths in Ghana. Countries currently with the lowest cases in the region are Gambia, Seychelles and Eritrea. Southern Africa is the most affected area across the continent in terms of positive Covid-19 cases and Northern Africa closely …

With a view to nation-building and inclusive growth, South Sudan is seeking investment in hydrocarbon exploration, infrastructure development and power generation capacity, with opportunities to be showcased at the upcoming South Sudan Oil & Power 2021 Conference & Exhibition in June.

South Sudan represents one of the fastest-growing frontier markets on the continent, driven by a renewed transitional government with a commitment to economic growth, infrastructure development and an oil revival. Led by H.E. President Salva Kiir, the newly formed unity government is prioritizing infrastructural development and exploration activities, with a view to rebuilding the nation, improving the standard of living and driving associated job and economic opportunities. With a critical infrastructure deficit and growing demand for alternative power generation solutions, South Sudan is characterized by its unique opportunity to build the domestic energy sector – and country – from the ground up.

South Sudan is currently the only commercial …

In the last century, the fashionable and accepted route to success for young Africans was to complete their education and join the corporate world. A few university students aspired to become entrepreneurs; most educational institutions did not offer entrepreneurial programs. With few exceptions, African families used to guide their children to join a leading multi-national or work for a state institution, hoping they would climb the corporate ladder to become CEOs or at least senior management. That was prestigious until the paradigm shifted to tech entrepreneurship with the emergence of the computer, mobile and Internet industry in the latter part of the 20^th century. Whilst a lot of African families have built successful entrepreneurial ventures in the past, this essay emphasis the growing move of corporates to tech entrepreneurship.

The likes of Dr. Nii Narku Quaynor who started Network Computer Systems (NCS) in 1988 and played a key role …

Kenya’s agriculture has beaten the odds of a difficult 2020 to end on a high, having registered one of the best growth trajectories across key segments in a long time.  

Indeed these fortunes are attributable to fairly good weather and unprecedented coordination in delivery of inputs and services as witnessed during the Covid-19 lockdown when President Kenyatta on advice from the private sector placed agriculture among the essential services to be exempted from curfew.  Not even the invasion of desert locusts early in the year and the hovering around of the pest dampened farm production.  The government and private sector players quickly assembled an assault which, together with nature, subdued arguably the most dreaded crop insect.  

The horticulture sector has registered a 140 per cent growth, up from 115 per cent the previous year in a season everyone expected a shrink in the general slow economic turnaround …